Page 94 of The Demon's Pet

“I’ve seen things you couldn’t possibly imagine,” Sam said. “You haven’t even been to any of the abyssal realms, also known as the dark realms.”

I was quiet for a moment. “No, but I want to know about them.”

He shook his head. “No.” He planted his hands on his hips and faced the window again. “I’m not doing it. It’s going to blow up in our faces.” His jaw clenched so hard I could see it from behind. “I will overcome this. It’s only a matter of time.”

“But aren’t you hungry?” I asked, coming up behind him.

I didn’t know how I felt the power to be so bold, but I’d never wanted someone so much.

And I wanted to help him, even if it was just an excuse.

Slowly, tentatively, I tried to wrap my arms around his waist.

He turned and pushed me back, gently removing my hands.

“I’m a celestial now, almost all of the time. I feed on adulation.”

“But most people despise you,” I said.

“It’s still attention,” he said.

“And wait, what do you mean the celestials feed on adulation?”

His lips firmed, and his eyes said he’d said something he didn’t mean to.

He moved toward me, and even though I got the feeling he was just trying to distract me, it worked. He backed me up to the counter and put a hand on either side of me, looming over me.

I looked to the side, feeling his warmth, the heat of his gaze. “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Because I can’t figure you out,” Sam said. “And I like to keep you still when I’m studying you.” He let out a sigh and put his head on my shoulder, shocking me. “I just don’t get why you have this effect on me. I feel many people want me. My incubus doesn’t ever feel like he’s jumping out of my skin. Only with you.” He shook his head. “It’s an unnecessary complication.”

“What can we do about it?” I asked.

He pulled back to look down at me, and my shoulder still tingled where he’d been.

“If you want to be with me, and you’re truly willing to accept that I will never feel anything for you… there is something we can do.”

“What?”

“I can keep taking care of it, but it’s not going to satisfy my inner demon, honestly.” He thought for a moment. “I haven’t had time to really think about it, and I thought this all could wait until we got to my place. But perhaps this could work for both of us.”

“What could?”

Sam grabbed my hand and pulled me in against him, his hand tightly wrapped around my waist. “You need to start exploring vices anyway, if you want to start accessing your demonic powers. I need to know what you are, and I can’t feel that yet. Not when you’re this suppressed.”

“Because I’m a virgin?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “Because you’ve been living all your life under silly rules that expressly kept you from ever accessing your inner powers as a demon.” He put up his hand. “Let’s see, what do celestials say is a sin?” He counted them off on his fingers. “Sex. Eating too much. Loud laughter. Murder. All the fun things.”

“Murder is a fun thing?”

He glanced down. “You should try it sometime.”

“No thanks,” I said, wrinkling my nose.

He gave me a funny look but dropped it. “Regardless, you give up your power when you deny yourself everything you want. You have to start taking it all back. That means sexual exploration at the very least.”

“Ah,” I said. “But how does that work for both of us?”

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